Blood centre to use rabbits

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 40

Blood centre to use rabbits

PA Auckland The Auckland Blood Centre will soon start using an extract from rabbits’ brains in some of its processes to reduce the risk of A.I.D.S. Thromboplastin, a complex substance that initiates the clotting process, was previously derived from humans. But the centre will switch to rabbit thromboplastin to reduce the risk to laboratory technicians. The director, Dr Graham Woodfield, said

there was a very small risk to staff when the human product was used. Rabbit thromboplastin had been used for years overseas, and was quite safe, he said. All donor blood is now routinely tested for the A.I.D.S. virus, and donors are carefully screened to see if they belong to a high-risk group. Because the disease is more common overseas, blood products for haemophiliacs are only made from plasma from New Zealand donors.

The clearest demonstration of the industry’s downturn from the figures for July is fertiliser applications in the South Island, down from 10,594 tonnes last July to 735 tonnes this year. For fertiliser and lime spread in both islands this July’s total is 2785 tonnes compared with 16,533 tonnes last year. A note to the survey findings said the July results were influenced by the abolition of fertiliser price controls from July 1 last year, which tended to increase the 1985 figures for June and July, usually a quiet period for topdressing. < An industry spokesman, pioneer topdressing pilot and chairman of. the association’s aerial - work division, Mr Peter Rowley, said he thought topdressing had probably passed the worst of the farming downturn in April and May this year.